Chapter 3
The hour was approaching 10:00 p.m. Among their collection of home movies and slide shows, Cyborg had selected a set of discs containing slides of last year's Fourth of July. Cyborg set the series to run from the beginning of the late afternoon's events. There were individual and group pictures taken of the food's preparations at the tower, their departure from the tower to the T-car, through the city, and all afternoon and evening long of park activities. In every picture there was never a dull moment. There were happy smiles – even rare "Kodak" moments of smiles from Raven – and goofy grins.
Among the titans, Bumblebee had been invited to come along. Cyborg had asked her to go that day and since then they had been going out and were now a steady couple. There were plenty of couples' moments taken in the slide show's photos. Robin and Starfire were caught cuddling, and there were a number of shots of hugs between Raven and Beast Boy. Then at nightfall when the fireworks began, the camera was mounted and automated to swivel about. Pictures were taken of the fireworks and the titans, as a boy was paired with a girl. They were either sitting side by side or leaning into one another.
A short while ago, before the slide show was run, Cyborg ran a home movie of the titans at the beach from last June which Starfire joined to watch. Bumblebee was not among the titans for beach day. Although the home movie camera did not catch every angle of the day's events, the security cameras caught plenty, so Cyborg decided to use that additional footage for this collection. Beast Boy succeeded in talking an initially reluctant Raven to join them. She came out wearing a dark one-piece bathing suit and a dark open-button cover-up shirt.
While everyone else enjoyed the water Raven remained on the beach reading. Once in a while Beast Boy, with some support from the other titans, would invite her into the water. Several times she would decline, even if she had to use her powers on him to stress her point. But she eventually gave in and at least waded around in the water no higher than her knees. That did not stop Beast Boy from having a little fun. He morphed into a seal and beneath the water succeeded in bumping the back of her left leg hard enough to send her toppling over into the sea. A soaking Raven quickly levitated out of the water and retaliated, having a little fun of her own with her powers. While her rage was more under control, she faked the emotion and went into a pretend demonic tantrum. Seeing the terrorized look on his face and then hearing his desperate apology made her smile. She thought it made him all the cuter. After "calming down" she laughed. Raven opened up to some more fun and even joined in the splashing and swimming around. Footage caught Beast Boy morphing into a dolphin and swimming around with Raven clinging to his dorsal fin.
Starfire could not watch anymore. Although she could laugh at times, she was too saddened so she left the room to go outside. Robin and Cyborg remained to continue watching. The beach and park footage brought on bittersweet memories for them too, but they still laughed.
Magenta retired to her room a short while ago. She was having an on screen conversation with her long time friend Kid Flash. He was good to her knowing she had problems concerning her powers. Her magnetic abilities often distorted her mental stability and Kid Flash's friendship kept her sane. The titans were fully aware of this but they believed in her powers and trusted her as long as Kid Flash did.
Omen was in her room reflecting over some cryptic visions she recently had. She could not understand why she was unable to know the details of the visions. There were indications of "death to life" and "revenge." In the shadows of those images Omen could see a young figure, but no face. There was even a bird. As the figure seemed to monitor the city from the rooftops, the bird monitored the city from the sky… both seemingly to be searching for something… or someone.
"I should share these with the others," she thought. "But what would I tell them? I have no real leads." She considered how her visions were coming to her. "It's as if I'm not supposed to have these visions… like they're not my concern. Well until I know something, I'll remain silent and hope no disaster comes to pass for doing so."
Minutes before the Fourth of July slide show was finished with its run, the alarm went off. The video display was replaced with a map of Jump City and a marker with an emergency code. Robin and Cyborg were already at the monitor as Magenta and Omen entered the room. Robin pulled out his communicator having already deciphered the emergency code.
Please come back inside Star," Robin requested. "There's been a jailbreak and I'll want everyone on it."
"Coming Robin," replied Starfire softly.
Seconds after issuing his order, there was a strong gust of wind. Then there came a flash of lighting followed by a crash of thunder. Lastly a section of clouds made way for a small opening. Omen looked outside at the change in the atmosphere. Then everything outside steadied to the calmness it was before. Omen felt troubled and everyone inside noticed.
"Is there something wrong, Omen?" wondered Robin.
"There's just… something strange about the sudden change in the weather," she replied. "But I have no definite thoughts on what it means."
"If you think it's going to mean trouble let us know."
Starfire had just joined the titans in the Rec. room.
"I will," Omen complied.
"Okay, the tower's security system is set," Cyborg reported. "Titan Recognition is activated as are the retinal and vocal I.D."
"Titans, go!" ordered Robin and they all departed the tower.
Outside, where there lay buried one Garfield Logan, he had since found himself apparently awake and in total darkness. Determined to get to better light he had become a rat and was nearly finished chewing through his confinement.
Omen, Magenta, and Cyborg were speeding through the city in the T-car. Robin was on his R-cycle, while Starfire flew through the air. They were but two remaining miles away from the prison.
"Omen can you tell us anything about the jailbreak," asked Robin.
Omen closed her eyes for a few seconds to focus. "H.I.V.E. members Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo are aiding in the escape of… Killer Moth, Johnny Rancid, and Control Freak."
"What would the H.I.V.E. want with them?" wondered Cyborg.
Omen focused on her foresight. "They have orders to break the other three out. But I don't know whose orders and I can't foresee why."
"We'll just have to ask when we get there," Robin replied. Jump City Prison was just ahead. "There it is."
The front gate of the prison opened up – the apparent work of Gizmo's tech. He and the other five neared the entrance. They spotted the titans en route. "Crud, it's the titans!" griped Gizmo.
"So what do we tell them about what we did last year?" asked Control Freak.
"We have orders from Slade and Brother Blood not to say anything right now," instructed Jinx. "We're also not to finish them off for now. Let's just make sure we escape."
Mammoth and Johnny Rancid simultaneously cracked their knuckles. "Me and birdie-boy got an old score to settle," stated Rancid with a savage grin.
"Get ready," said Jinx as the titans came to a halt.
Starfire levitated as the titans' vehicles all came to a halt and were powered off. Robin removed his helmet and stepped from his R-cycle as Cyborg, Magenta, and Omen got out of the T-car.
"So what business does the H.I.V.E. have with you three that they're helping you escape?" Robin demanded.
"Yeah, or can't the H.I.V.E. carry its own weight?" added Cyborg with sarcasm.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jinx retorted
"But we're not gonna tell ya!" added Control Freak with a scowl and a cackle.
There was a momentary standstill between the two teams, but both sides were battle ready. The only move made was three devices being ejected from Gizmo's tech pack: Control Freak's remote which Gizmo tossed over to him, a device for Killer Moth which Gizmo also tossed to his ally, and another device which Gizmo held on to.
"Attack!" ordered Jinx after another moment. Gizmo's spider legs tech snapped from his backpack and all villains rushed forward.
"Titan's go!" ordered Robin and all charged.
Enemies clashed. Killer Moth took to the air and Starfire charged after him. Control Freak pressed a button on his remote and vanished. Omen's foresight led her to Cyborg's T-car where Control Freak reappeared from the monitoring equipment of the T-car's dashboard and behind the wheel. Mammoth charged after Omen whose attention had still been on Control Freak's reappearance in Cyborg's car. Jinx maneuvered about using her acrobatics and charged toward Magenta. Gizmo pressed a button on his device and this teleported Rancid's prized motorcycle onto the grounds. Johnny Rancid charged toward his wheels. Gizmo popped his spider legs out from his tech pack and went into attack mode toward Cyborg.
Starfire continued her aerial pursuit of Killer Moth who continued to out maneuver her starbolt and eyebolt attacks. He looked back every few seconds looking for an open opportunity to turn and charge her.
Robin spotted Rancid going for his motorcycle and was about to go after his own R-cycle but was mystified to see his wheels acting on their own. A loud cackle from within the T-car gained Robin's attention. Control Freak was aiming his remote right at the R-cycle.
The dull cackle from Control Freak also got Cyborg's attention and distracted him from Gizmo. "No, not my baby!" Cyborg cried. He was blindsided by Gizmo who ejected a battering ram from his tech pack.
Control Freak quickly hit a pattern of buttons on his remote and the T-car started right up. He put the car into drive and backed the car a short distance from the fight. He continued maneuvering Robin's R-cycle around to keep the boy wonder from catching his wheels. He also navigated the R-cycle about, using it as a weapon to quickly charge Robin who constantly leapt away to avoid being rammed by it.
Johnny Rancid was quickly closing in on Robin. "Here I come you stupid little kid!"
Jinx brought forth every form of debris she could toward Magenta. Magenta had no problem deflecting anything metallic coming her way. But this did not deter Jinx. Jinx was also throwing nonmetallic debris at her, causing Magenta to maneuver around those attacks that she could not stop.
Mammoth charged toward Omen.
"Rancid," Jinx called out as she fought. "Robin's too busy trying to get his motorcycle. Save him for later and help Mammoth with the psychic!"
Johnny brought his wheels to a halt. He briefly looked back and forth between Omen and Robin. He grunted unhappily, but complied and steered toward Omen.
At Titans Tower a naked Beast Boy had just used voice recognition. "Beast Boy's my name. Funny stuff is my game."
"Welcome back B.B. The door's open." Cyborg's image disappeared from the monitor.
Starfire grew eye-weary from firing her many eyebolts. This briefly distorted her vision and she momentarily stopped firing starbolts as well. Killer Moth took the chance to come about and charge Starfire. Starfire could see well and resumed firing starbolts, but her eyes were still worn and she could not fire eyebolts. Killer Moth maneuvered around the energy blasts. He closed in on her and took a swing. Starfire was thrown back by his punch and Killer Moth kept up his assault continuing to charge and added several punches.
But Starfire's adrenalin pumped fast and her temper rose. As Killer Moth closed in for another attack, Starfire grunted as she thrust a hand out and caught his fist. In a fury she thrust her fist at his abdomen. He contracted and let out a gasp. In midair, Starfire took hold of him and threw him down to the surface. He fell many feet to the ground and was knocked out.
Starfire regained herself. Seeing the fray below, she watched as Robin was either chasing or dodging his R-cycle. Cyborg was battling Gizmo. Johnny Rancid and Mammoth were ganged up on Omen. Magenta was busy with Jinx. Where was Control Freak? Then something caught Starfire's attention. Cyborg's car was moving.
"But Cyborg is fighting," Starfire realized to herself. "He is too distracted to control his car."
Starfire flew down to the T-car's driver side window and gasped when she spotted Control Freak at the wheel. Control Freak lost focus on the R-cycle when he looked over at Starfire in surprise. In a panic he stopped maneuvering the R-cycle and hit a short pattern of buttons on his remote. This locked the door.
Robin quickly realized his R-cycle was free of Control Freak's remote. He shifted himself to leap onto his R-cycle. Spotting Rancid he charged.
Rancid saw this and brought his wheels to a halt. He looked over and called out to Mammoth, "She's all yours, big guy!" Johnny took off toward Robin.
With Mammoth now being her only adversary, Omen teleported about several times, sending Mammoth into dizzy mode. But she was blindsided by a wooden beam thrown at her by one of Jinx's hexes. This brought Omen to the ground. Mammoth was nearly upon her when Magenta took the opportunity of Jinx's break to throw a boulder containing metallic compounds at him. He was thrown back. His recovery was slow.
"Get Control Freak out of Cyborg's car!" Magenta shouted at Omen.
Omen looked over at the T-car. Starfire had just spotted Control Freak in the driver's seat. Omen teleported inside the car and grabbed Control Freak. Just before teleporting herself with him out of the T-car, she shouted at Starfire through the glass, "Get Mammoth!"
Starfire flew after Mammoth. Omen teleported Control Freak out of the car and back into the battle. She then teleported herself over to help Magenta deal with Jinx. In her haste to continue fighting, she neglected to disarm Control Freak of his remote.
"Can you handle her?" Magenta asked Omen.
"You bet." Omen replied.
"I'll deal with the dwarf," added Magenta. Leaving Omen to battle Jinx, Magenta ran off toward Cyborg. She called out to Cyborg. "Cy let me deal with Gizmo. Control Freak is right over there."
Cyborg saw where she pointed. "Thanks," he said and gave a thumbs-up. Then he left Magenta with Gizmo. Control Freak was all his. "Nobody drives my baby but me," he harshly whispered to no one as he marched over to Control Freak.
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(A/N) To sum it up, it is now Robin vs. Rancid, Cyborg vs. Control Freak, Omen vs. Jinx, Starfire vs. Mammoth, and Magenta vs. Gizmo.
